It's a rite of passage every March. As soon as the field of 68 is announced, basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike fill out brackets for fun, for money, for pride. Heck, even billionaire Warren Buffet is putting a billion dollar bounty on someone having the perfect bracket from start to finish. That's a billion dollars. And your chances of nailing the entire thing perfectly are pretty slim. As in 1-in-9.2 quintillion. (Quintillion has 18 zeroes, by the way.)

Unless you stick with us.

The NCAA Tournament officially starts Tuesday night with the First Four games in Dayton, which means there's still time to fill out that bracket for the office pool or Mr. Buffett's challenge if you haven't already. Should you pick Wichita State? How about Duke? Does picking by mascots and colors work? That's okay. We're here to help you out. So sit down, grab a pen (because only cheaters use pencil to fill it out) and let The Star-Ledger help guide you through to the top with 68 things you need to know before you hand in that bracket:

68. Mount St. Mary's should be your choice in one of the First Four matchups. The Mountaineers have no fear, becoming the first Northeast Conference team to win three straight games on the road in the league tourney and win the title. And Take Cal Poly in the other game between 16-seeds. Historically, the team with the losing record in the opening-round game wins. Since 2001, "losers" are 5-2.

67. North Carolina State is super-dangerous, with forward T.J. Warren. He's on a tear, averaging 28.6 points since Feb. 15. Plus, as we saw in the Big East Tournament against Creighton and Doug McDermott -- Xavier struggles against forwards who can score. And go Tennessee over Iowa. Hawkeyes are fading fast: 1-6 in their last seven games.

66. So you're thinking about being bold and taking a No. 16 over a No. 1. Fair — it almost happened last year with Southern over Gonzaga. But don't. No. 16's are 0-for-116. They are top-seeds for a reason, you know.

65. Okay, so you like a 15 over a 2. Now you're talking. It's happened seven times in history since the field expanded to 64 teams -- and three times in the last two years. And remember: Florida Gulf Coast went to the Sweet 16 last year as a No. 15.

64. Sentimental No. 15 choice: American. The Eagles face a tough Wisconsin team in their first game, but they're led by first-year head coach Mike Brennan, who has some Jersey ties. He played at Princeton for a guy who knew a thing or two about upsets -- Pete Carril.

62. Definitely don't pick Wofford over Michigan. The Terriers have one player in their regular rotation, sophomore guard Spencer Collins, who shoots above 70 percent from the free-throw line.

61. You're not crazy for thinking North Carolina Central can beat Iowa State. The Eagles can. Why? Free-throws. The MEAC champs are 22nd in the country in free-throws made (625) and in the top-100 in free-throw percentage (72.7). While the Cyclones aren't a high-fouling team, you can bank on N.C. Central in a close game.

60. Mercer is a trendy upset pick over Duke. Avoid it. The Blue Devils have the third-lowest turnover percentage (14.4) of teams in the tournament.

59. If there's anyone who can prepare for Manhattan, it's Louisville. Jaspers head coach Steve Masiello played for Rick Pitino for four years at Kentucky and was an assistant for six seasons at Louisville.

57. Getting the 12-seed over the right 5-seed is critical to any bracket success. It's happened 41 times overall, but 41 percent of those have come in the last 10 years. And in five of the last eight tournaments, at least two No. 12s have advanced past a No. 5.

56. Take 'em all. That's right. Take every No. 12 seed. N.C. State gets a Saint Louis team that can't score; North Dakota State has had the same starting five in 30 of its 31 games and six seniors who have played in 655 games; Harvard gets a Cincinnati team that's struggling; and Stephen F. Austin has won 28 games in a row.

55. Keep this in mind when you see San Diego State on the No. 4 line (and No. 7 seed New Mexico): Since the Mountain West was formed in 1999, the league has sent 38 teams to the NCAAs. Four have reached the Sweet 16. None have gone to the Elite Eight.

54. Don't expect much from the 12s after the initial upset. Only once -- 2008 -- have two No. 12s made it through to the second weekend together.

53. Split the difference and take two No. 11s over a No. 6. Why? Well, 39 11-seeds have won their first game -- but while the No. 12s have a better record advancing to the Sweet 16, five No. 11s have made it to the Elite Eight to just one 12-seed.

52. And three of those No. 11s made it to the Final Four.

51. Dayton is going to know a lot about Ohio State. Head coach Archie Miller was a Buckeye assistant for one season under Thad Matta. His brother Sean -- the Arizona head coach -- was Matta's assistant at Xavier for three seasons. Flyers assistant Kevin Kuwik, was an Ohio State video coordinator for two seasons. And the team's director of basketball operations, Bill Comar, served in the same role for seven years with Matta at Xavier.

50. That said, remember that the Buckeyes still have Aaron Craft -- who is the NCAAs leader among active players in steals, with 333.

49. If there's one guard from a double-digit seed who can will his team to a win, it's Providence's Bryce Cotton.

48. Nebraska has never won a game in the NCAA Tournament in six tries.

47. Keep in mind that UMass is considered the most over-seeded team in the tournament, nabbing a spot on the 6-line, despite being ranked No. 52 in the KenPom ratings. Tennessee was 13th and Iowa was 27th.

Getting Defensive46. Florida has one of the best defensive teams in the field. The Gators only allow 57.9 points per game. It's a strength which propelled them to the top overall seed and one the committee clearly felt it wanted to match up with like-minded teams. Sitting in Florida's quadrant of the bracket? Five of the top 40 defenses in the country in terms of points allowed:

45.Syracuse (T-9th). The Orange allow 59.5 points per game this season, and held ACC opponents to under 60 points 12 times.

44.Ohio State (12th). The Buckeyes allow 59.8 points per game this season and are top-75 nationally in both block percentage and steal percentage.

43.Pittsburgh (22nd). The Panthers allow 62.4 points per game this season and are giving up 0.98 points per possession to opponents.

42.Stephen F. Austin (24th). The Lumberjacks allow 62.6 points per game this season, despite allowing the 14th-most field goal attempts in the country.

41.Albany (39th). The Great Danes allow 63.8 points per game this season and could draw the Gators in the second round.

Traveling Time40. The Selection Committee did no favors with the final No. 1 seed, Virginia, in the East Regional at Madison Square Garden. The Cavaliers are 344 miles from the Garden, which is practically cross-country, compared to the commutes some fan bases in the regional would have to make:

39.Providence. Friars are 178 miles away.

38.Connecticut. Huskies are 139 miles away.

37.Delaware. Blue Hens are 134 miles away.

36.Villanova. Wildcats are 105 miles away.

35.Saint Joseph's. The Hawks would only have to fly 99 miles north.

Some Anaheim History34. Anaheim's Honda Center is the site for this year's West Regional. And you had better have the top-seed Arizona getting there otherwise you don't know your history. The arena has hosted the West Regional four previous times — 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2011. Three of those times, the Wildcats were in the West side of the bracket and each time reached Anaheim.

33. While you're doing that, slide Arizona into the Regional Final. The 'Cats are 3-0 when playing Sweet 16 games in the city.

32. But don't slide Arizona into the Final Four from Anaheim — it's never happened. In the Wildcats' three trips to SoCal, they have never advanced past the Elite Eight, losing to Utah (1998), Kansas (2003) and Connecticut (2011).

31. The team that does beat the Wildcats to advance to the Final Four is a team you'll want to put into the National Championship game. Each one of those teams has made it to the final game, but only UConn three years ago, won it all.

30. Even Sean Miller has found heartbreak in Anaheim. Two years before he was hired at Arizona, Miller took Xavier to the West Regional final at the Honda Center losing to top-seeded UCLA.

Didn't We Do This Already?29. Everyone agrees that top-seeded Wichita State -- the only undefeated team in the country -- got put into the most loaded regional of the tournament. But it shouldn't be too hard to study a few potential opponents for the Shockers if they make it through to Indianapolis. In the last two years, Wichita State has played five games against teams it could see in Indy:

28.Nov. 21, 2012: Wichita State, 75, Iowa 63
The Hawkeyes got a taste of Gregg Marshall's defense, as they were held to 26.1 percent shooting and made only 12 field-goals.

27.Dec. 13, 2012: Tennessee 69, Wichita State 60
Shockers shot just 38.2 percent and had one player score more than eight points in the loss in Knoxville.

26.April 6, 2013: Louisville 72, Wichita State 68
It's the last loss that the Shockers suffered, coming in last year's Final Four. A game they led by 12 points with 13:35 left to play.

21.Villanova
You beat the Wildcats by making 3-pointers, as they are allowing opponents to shoot 54.8 percent in their four losses. Not good when four teams in your bracket (Michigan State, Harvard, UConn and St. Joe's) are in the top-50 nationally in 3-point shooting percentage.

Consider About Buying Low On ...20.George Washington
The Colonials held Doug McDermott to seven points on 2-for-12 shooting back in December. Mike Lonergan's team knows defense.

19.Oklahoma State
Midseason slide pushed them down the seed board, but this is still a team that is loaded at the guard spot with Marcus Smart (17.8 ppg) and Markel Brown (17.1 ppg).

18.Oregon
Ducks season has had three acts: A 13-0 start; a 2-8 slump; and a 8-1 finish — with wins at UCLA and over Arizona.

Streaks To Consider17. The Big East Conference has sent a team to the Final Four for five consecutive years. But the league was reconstituted this season and only sent four teams and two high seeds (No. 2 Villanova, No. 3 Creighton).

16. Every four-year player who has played under Tom Izzo during his career, has made at least one Final Four appearance, since he took over as coach of the Spartans in 1995. A preseason favorite this year, a failure to reach Dallas would break Izzo's run.

15. A No. 4 seed has made the Final Four for three straight years. But none of those schools (Kentucky in 2011, Kansas in 2012 and both Syracuse and Michigan in 2013) went on to win the title. And only Kansas and Michigan made the championship game. Both lost.

14. Only once since 1982, has Kentucky failed to win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament. Should John Calipari's talented -- but inconsistent -- Wildcats fail to do that, he would join the only other man to do that in the last 32 years to wear that Scarlet Letter: Billy Gillispie.

Be Aware of the Pressure On ...13.Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
The Panthers have won 285 games since he took over 10 years ago. But Pittsburgh hasn't advanced past the first weekend since 2009.

12.Steve Alford, UCLA
Bruin faithful ran out Ben Howland for being too successful in Westwood and hired Alford. He brought them a Pac-12 title in year one, but also brings with him a NCAA resume which has just one Sweet 16 appearance in seven tries as a head coach.

11.Herb Sendek, Arizona State
Perpetually on the hot seat wherever he is, this is Sendek's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009 and only second with the Sun Devils. There is expectations that with a player like Jahii Carson (18.6 ppg), he should make it to the Sweet 16.

Let's Go Regional, Shall We?10.East Regional
Make sure you're taking either the No. 2 seed or the No. 4 seed here. (That's you No. 2 Villanova and No. 4 Michigan State.) Why? Well, since 2004, a 2-seed has advanced to the Final Four four times and a No. 4 has advance twice in the last three years from this region. Only one No. 1 -- North Carolina in 2008 -- survived to the Final Four.

9.South Regional
Go with the No. 1 seed here. (Hi, Florida!) The top-seeded team has advance to the Final Four a whopping six times out of the South Regionals over the past 10 years. And they've produced three champions, too -- Kentucky (2012), Duke (2010) and North Carolina (2009).

8.West Regional
Much dicier out here. This has traditionally been the wild card bracket, with five different seed numbers representing the region at the Final Four in the last five years. Wichita State (9) came out of here last year, Louisville (4) the year before. But Connecticut won as a 3-seed in 2011, the year after Butler (5) almost pulled off the unthinkable in 2010. The last No. 1 to survive was UConn in 2009.

7.Midwest Regional
The Midwest (and it's step-brother, the Southwest) Regional has actually produced the most champions in the last 10 years: 2013, 2008, 2007, 2006. But, you're going to be in good shape if you take a team from one of the top three seeds. Only twice (VCU in 2011 and Michigan State in 2010) has a seed outside of the top three advanced out.

Final Four6. You're in good shape if you pick a No. 1 seed to advance to the title game. In the last five years, a top-seeded team has made it to the final game four times. The lone exception was Connecticut three years ago.

5. If you're riding a higher-seeded team to the championship game, that's fine. But just remember, it's only happened once in the last 10 years -- No. 8 Butler in 2011 -- and no team seeded lower than a No. 4 has won it all since Kansas in 1988.

Championship Game4. When selecting a winner, err on the side of the No. 1 seeds. (Again, they're top seeded for a reason.) The No. 1s have won 20 of the last 35 NCAA Championships -- almost double the number of No. 2s (6) and No. 3s (5) combined. And remember this: A No. 5 or No. 7 have never won the title since 1979.

3. For your Most Outstanding Player pool: Go with a junior. In the last 10 years, the award has gone to a junior player eight times. A senior (Kyle Singler, 2010) only once and a freshman (Anthony Davis, 2012) once. And never go with a sophomore -- that class hasn't produced a M.O.P. in the last 20 years.

2. Score: Average winner's score the last 10 years? 74.2. Average loser's score the last 10 years? 64.0. Champions have broken the 80-point barrier four times (2004, '07, '09, '13), while the runner- up has failed to score 60 five times (2006, '08, '10, '11, '12).